Powers
by xFireChickx
Summary: so i know this sounds like the kind of story that you would typically ignore 'cause it's au, but i PROMISE it'll be worth it. i mean, kids next door with superpowers, you can't go wrong with that! ...okay, so you can, but that's beside the point! rated t 'cause i'm paranoid
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so first and foremost, THIS IS NOT A CROSSOVER! 'Tis a _fusion. _I just thought it might be interesting to write a story where all of our favorite characters had superpowers. And just so you know, I get inspiration and ideas from _everywhere _not just one show. And I think I got pretty much all the popular characters already and what their powers are, and I _will _explain where I got the idea.**

**As far as chapters go, I'll start with how they meet, but after that, I don't think they'll go in any particular order. Heck, I might even go back to Monty and Ben's time as kids just for an origin story. So it's pretty much anything goes**

**If you'd like to see a particular character, I'm taking suggestions on their powers, but I might already have something else in mind, so yeah.**

**So anyway, they're 14 in this chapter, and in my mind ('cause I haven't found the time to draw it myself yet), Nigel looks like KicksterAsh's design in "_Whoops" _except with the hair _almost _like in AbbyGaby005's _"I miss you..." _(on deviantart). You'll see exactly what I mean when I find the time to draw him out. Oh, and none of them know each other have ever met before!**

**On with the story!**

Nigel opened his eyes groggily to find his room fogged up with steam and a lingering stench of something burning. _Oh no, not again! _He quickly crossed the bedroom and opened the window to let out the intense heat, though the mid-July heat outside was hardly better. _At least it smells fresher._

He groaned as a muggy heat wave struck him again, and he had to fight the urge to go back to sleep. He wasn't feeling the fatigue that came from waking up too early, it was that sluggish, sleepy feeling that came when it was too cruddy _hot._

Quickly, he shook away the feeling and began stretching in the hope that it might just wake him up properly. It was going well until he ran his fingers through his hair only to yank them away in disgust. His hair was _drenched _in sweat.

"Gross!" he hissed to himself. Mentally deciding that it would be best to shower before going down for breakfast, he made his way across his still-steamy-but-considerably-less-muggy bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom, hardly registering how the tiles hissed and partially melted under his treading feet.

The freezing water helped. _A lot. _Ignoring the fact that most of it had instantly evaporated the second it touched his skin, he did gradually cool off enough to be able to wash properly. Though his body wasn't physically _capable _of feeling cold, it was a comfort to know that at least he wasn't literally boiling anymore._  
_

As the water rhythmically pounded on his custom-made goggles (made of the same material as his glasses), he couldn't help but recount his whole ordeal for what seemed to be the buhmillionth time.

It was hard to pinpoint the exact moment when it all started, but as far as anyone could tell, he had been showing signs since New Years. While he had grown up with an immunity to the cold and an impossible body temperature, he had never actually shown any incredible signs that would really set him apart from anyone else. At least, not the way his parents and uncle were set apart before him, or his grandfather before them.

No, everything was fine up until January, when his eyes wouldn't stop burning with an intensity that made him cry out in pain. His mom, having gone through the exact same pain at his age, had him hold a bag of ice over his eyes; this did help considerably as the intense burning went down to a dull ache. That was when everyone had simultaneously guessed the same thing, and it seemed as if a longstanding bet with his dad and Uncle Ben had finally been realized. That is, until the syringe caught fire.

It was impossible to tell who was more surprised: him, his mom, or Dr. Chester, who had been, up until that point, trying to give him a shot. He didn't know exactly what happened, but when the doctor brought out that _gihugic _needle, an unfamiliar feeling of utmost _terror _had come over him, and the next thing he knew, the thing had just spontaneously combusted.

It had taken a shrill squeal, a sprint for the office door, and a wrestling match that included an incredible pin from his mom that would have made Hulk Hogan proud before they were finally able to secure the poor guy. After that, they had just called up his mom's brother to come and help the doctor _forget _that any of this mess had ever happened.

Things were surprisingly mundane after that. That is, if you didn't count the match that almost became an all-out duel went in between his parents when they got home about the bet that his dad had mistakenly lost.

Oh yeah, and best not count how that near-brawl was broken up by the second explosion of the day, this time bursting from his eyes and burning cleanly through the couch and into the wall in a perfectly straight line. And if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, _the laser wouldn't stop! _It beamed through everything he turned his eyes towards. It took what seemed like hours - but was probably only a few minutes - of chaos and tons of burning furniture before the beam stopped once he closed his eyes. At that point, everyone was freaking out at the thought that he might just have to go around blind to keep from destroying anything.

Luckily Hoagie's mom had a better solution. Familiar with his own mom's powers, it only took a few adjustments to a pair of glasses that she had been made to wear when her powers surfaced before he was allowed to open his eyes again. And so far, it didn't look like he would be able to go out without them.

Okay, forget the mundane part, because it was obviously anything but that. But at least things were much _calmer _since then; nothing more major than a few scorched chairs and a couple melted spoons.

_This is so not what I expected, _he thought for the gazillionth time. Though in all honesty, he didn't know exactly what to expect.

Uncle Ben always said (before he had gone his own way) that he felt much more powerful and confident the moment that his powers became active, but his mom described her experience as incredibly painful with all the headaches that came with it. And his dad didn't really say much about it. According to everyone, his powers had just always been there as far back as he could remember, so he couldn't really describe what changed. But one thing they all agreed on was that everyone reacted to theirs differently.

Nigel supposed that his body was reacting in a mixture of all three: there were migraines and incredibly sweaty days where he'd like nothing more than to jump in an icy lake before getting heat stroke, not to mention the glasses that he couldn't ever take off; but he did feel much more powerful now, as if he could stand up straight for the very first time, a weight that he didn't even know was there was suddenly removed; yet at the same time, he didn't feel like there was anything drastically different about himself (besides the heat vision anyway). He was born with a temperature of 130, and he always felt comfortable unless there was a heat wave (which wasn't often).

He shut off the water, got dressed (no need to waste a towel for drying off when the water dried off by itself) and brushed his teeth; or at least _tried _to, but just ended up spitting out a huge glob of melted plastic when trying to rinse.

_Not again!_

He rolled his eyes and threw the toothbrush away and retrieved another. He quickly took one last look at himself in the mirror, adjusted his glasses, and left for the hallway and down the stairs for breakfast.

**Okay, not a very long chapter, but I wanted to make this a Nigel-centered chapter 'cause I didn't feel like explaining everyone's origin story on the first chapter, which reminds me:**

**For anyone who doesn't read comic books or watch superhero movies/cartoons (losers), I did base his powers off of Cyclops from X-Men.**

**I originally wanted him to just have power over fire (like Father) 'cause I thought that powers could be genetic to a point, but then I started making up origin stories for his parents, and it made sense to give him heat vision too. And it only made sense (in my mind anyway) to not let him turn it off like Scott. After all, aren't Nigel and Scott a lot alike? Like _a lot-_a lot.  
**

**Anyway, that's it for this chapter! I'm currently figuring out how to introduce the others, but I am taking suggestions and constructive criticism. I know this was kinda word-y, but I felt that I needed to add more detail than usual, considering how this is AU, so I need to explain a lot more**

**In short, REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, I wasn't meaning to post another chapter so soon, but since I can't think of anything - and I do mean _anything _- to write for BttF,SO, here I am. I _promise _that I'm trying though! I've got a few ideas on how to continue, but the words themselves keep alluding me. So just sit tight for now.**

**So anyway, here's another short chapter 'cause I only wanna bring in a couple of characters at a time so it'll be easier to keep their abilities straight. So in my imagination, at the age of 14, Abby and Hoagie look _exactly _like Creativemind0's _"HoagsxAbbs" _(again on deviantart) except Abby doesn't have Nigel's glasses (obviously). **

**So yeah...What? No! I'm not stalling! Why would I be stalling?! Okay yeah, I'm stalling. And you know the interesting thing about stalling is- *gets struck by lightning* Okay! Okay! Done stalling!**

**On with the story!**

Abby and Hoagie were already finishing their breakfasts when Nigel finally appeared in the kitchen; Abby at the sink with her near-empty bowl and Hoagie alternating between taking spoonfuls of cereal and flicking the pages of his comic book.

"Well look who decided to grace us with his presence this morning!" was Abby's greeting.

"What's up, Sleeping Beauty?"

"Oh ha ha, you guys are _so _funny," he muttered sarcastically in return, rolling his eyes and retrieving his own bowl from a nearby cupboard. "Should I remind you that it's _summer, _and I can sleep as late as I want?"

"Should Abby remind _you _that you're scheduled for training 'til ya can keep _that _under control," Abby responded coolly, indicating to the melted knob on the recently-emptied cupboard.

Unable to think of a good comeback, Nigel settled for childishly muttering her words under his breath. It wasn't until he had already sat down and began attacking his cereal that he thought to say, "I was awake. Just in the shower."

But neither of them were listening anymore, not that he could blame them. Hoagie had finished his cereal and was bent over his comic book as he scanned the pages carefully, as if he was afraid he would miss something if he blinked.

_BAMF!_

"You'll go blind if ya hold it that close to your face," Abby said casually, suddenly appearing sitting on the table, examining her fingernails.

Hoagie grunted in acknowledgement, but didn't relent on the distance he put between his book and his eyes.

_BAMF!_

"Fine, whateva," she shrugged, suddenly on the opposite side of the kitchen. "When ya can't read your stupid comics anymore, don't come cryin'a Abby, 'cause she's not helpin'."

Hoagie grunted again.

"Nigel!" a woman's voice called from somewhere outside the kitchen.

"Here!" he called back.

It only took a moment before a fourth person showed face in the kitchen. "Mornin', love."

"Morning, Mum."

"Abby, Hoagie; good, you're both up."

_BAMF!_

"Mornin', Mrs. U," Abby greeted cheerfully from a recently-occupied chair.

"Good morning, Abigail. Hoagie, dear, I can tell you for a fact that you don't need super vision to read that at a normal distance."

Hoagie grunted a third time.

"Nigel, love, you're due for training with the others. They're all waiting on you."

"Aw, mom, I wanted to go out to the park today!"

"Don't be ridiculous, you know the rules; no going out until your powers calm down!"

"But they _are _calm! I feel loads better today, honest!"

"That poor spoon says otherwise._ Now_, Nigel."

It took several moments to figure out that the "poor spoon" his mom was talking about was the one that was currently wilting pitifully in his hand due to the heat. "Not again!" He hastily laid it flat on the table in hopes that it would solidify into a vague shape of what it once was as it gradually cooled.

Abby shook her head at tutted as she watched him try to cool the off by blowing on it until the whole thing caught fire. While this would have caused a panic not even two months ago, they were unfortunately getting far too used to this as of late.

_BAMF!_

Fire extinguisher.

_BAMF!_

Nigel muttered a hasty thank you mixed in with an annoyed goodbye as he followed his mother's retreating form from clenched teeth

Hoagie hadn't even moved throughout any of this.

"Hey Hoagie, Abby's gonna go throw your computer into the lake."

Grunt.

"Hoags, Abby's gonna go invade China with her pet unicorn."

Grunt.

"Gilligan, your hair's on fire."

Grunt.

"Okay, seriously, what _are _you reading?" Abby snapped impatiently, snatching the comic from his hands.

"Hey! Gimme that!"

_BAMF!_

He found himself grappling with thin air, and Abby right behind him, scanning his book. "_Yipper: Dobermans of the Sky,_" she read aloud. "Man, Abby thought you grew out of this nerd game years ago!"_  
_

"It's not nerdy!" he snapped, reaching for it again -

_BAMF!_

- but again found himself reaching out for nothing, Abby perched precariously on top of one of the higher cabinets, continuing to flip through the graphic novel distastefully.

"It's a franchise that only the most strategic minds can follow and appreciate!"

"Hm, Abby didn't know that it took strategy to be a nerd," she snickered.

Hoagie scowled from the ground, focusing his energy on the metal screws holding the cabinets together. _Metal. _He felt felt a familiar static-y shock run through his being as he leaped towards them, no longer flesh and blood, but electricity itself, running and jumping from one conductor to another until he found himself on top of the same cabinet as Abby, back to his normal form.

"Give it back before I shock you," he threatened, the static radiating off his skin not at all stupid and laughable like his statement.

"Come and get it."

_BAMF!_

Abby stood in the doorway, _Yipper _tucked into her shorts' pocket.

"Challenge accepted," he said in what he probably thought was a cool and intimidating way. Again he abandoned his solid form and darted from one piece of metal to another until he hit the floor where his precious comic had been only a moment before. _Now where did she g -?_

_BAMF!_

_Aha! _He took off again, flying through the long fluorescent light bulbs that led down the hallway and to one of the basements before solidifying again on the floor.

_What the heck? _He scanned the dark basement, using a static-electricity ball in his palm as a light. _No windows, Abby. No where to escape. So where are -? _He realized a second too late that the bucket that was usually kept on the shelf next to the mop was missing, and had come toppling down on him, soaking him with water as it landed on his head like a helmet.

He heard her laughing from somewhere to his left. "Oh man, that was too easy, baby! You - you just walked right into that!" From the sound of things, she was laughing too hard to teleport again and was leaning up against some other junk for support.

Hoagie let her laugh. This just got a whole lot more interesting.

He didn't remove the bucket-helmet; it allowed him to have the advantage of surprise. Quickly before she could fully recover, he electrified himself, this time speeding through the _water _that had conveniently splashed everywhere to fly-tackle her, successfully pinning her down. Realizing her mistake, she instantly began struggling to disappear. _Up the stairs. Up the stairs!_

_BAMF!_

Unfortunately for her, Hoagie held fast, knowing what she would try to do. _Hallway! _she silently willed, seeing it in the corner of her eye, imagining it...

_BAMF!_

There they were, still struggling. _Ceiling!_

_BAMF!_

And suddenly they were airborn, having just appeared in midair, and quickly falling. She expected him to just let go right then and there, but instead she felt the strangest - though not altogether unpleasant - tingling feeling, as if her body was no longer _her body. _She was aware of scenery flashing by from below - was that the hallway? - before practically _popping _back into her solid state. _Whoa!_

They skidded across the floor, rolling and tumbling, trying to get the upper hand in the mini-wrestling match. Except for the part where normal wrestling matches wouldn't include sudden flashes as they suddenly disappeared and then reappeared in random locations, or how they would suddenly _dissolve _into almost nothing, traveling through various electronics, metal objects, and other common conductors of electricity. But besides that, _totally normal._

The wrestling/grappling match soon evacuated the kitchen in a hot pursuit through the building; though the living room, the main entrance, around the guest room, and down several hallways before Hoagie's elect-travel beamed them through a secret door that lead through their classified quarters, not that any of this registered as their brawl seemed to get more aggressive, their unusual travel more erratic as they zoomed through headquarters.

_Left! _Abby thought frantically as she saw two somethings out of the corner of her eye flying at them.

_BAMF!_

Too late; one of the flying somethings (set aflame) scorched her leg while the other (thankfully flame-free) smacked her on the nose, breaking it.

Their reentry didn't help matters much; they reappeared several feet off the floor, and came tumbling down, Hoagie partially squashing her as she landed on her back rather painfully. _Ouch._

"Omigosh! Are you guys, like, okay?" a voice from somewhere above her said, more shocked than concerned, they knew. "You guys came out of, like, nowhere, and it hit you and -!"

"Ashley, shut up! We all saw what happened!" a deeper voice snarled.

"You shut up, Bruce! _You're _the one that hit them!"

"Not on purpose!"

"But you -"

"Knock it off you two!" said a third voice sternly. "Are you guys alright? That looked pretty bad." Abby looked up to see David help Hoagie stand up the same time that Ogie was helping her sit up carefully, eyeing her nose.

"'M fine," said Hoagie dizzily.

"Be too," Abby said thickly.

"Abby, your leg!"

"Lenny, you idiot, her _nose!"_

"Abby'th fide," she insisted. "Thee?" Even though they all knew what they would see, it never ceased to amaze them to watch Abby's regenerative ability in action. The burned skin regained its color and the scraped parts knitted themselves back together until she looked as good as new (not counting the part of her shorts leg that had been singed off).

Even her nose was fixing itself; problem was that it was healing the wrong way. She took a deep breath - this was the worst part about her healing powers - and re-broke her nose. Everyone around her winced at the cracking sound as she fought back the tears that threatened to spill for the second time. Luckily it didn't take long before that pain went away and she was able to stand up.

Trying to break the tension, she jokingly asked, "Is it straight?"

Nigel and Bruce gave weak chuckles while Ogie and Lenny were still looking quite alarmed; David was raising an eyebrow and Ashley had already exhausted her ability to care.

* * *

"Okay, I gotta ask, what the _crud _were you two _doing?"_ Nigel asked incredulously a half hour later.

"Nothin'," Abby muttered grumpily. _Three weeks of laundry duty? That was harsh, _she thought ruefully.

"'Nothin,' eh?" said Bruce, popping a soda can open. "That was a lot of tumblin' around for it to be nothin'." He smirked, giving that incredibly annoying smile that said _I think I know what happened. _

"If ya have something to say, then just, like, _say _it already!" Ashley snapped.

"I'm _saying _that it all looks pretty funky to me. Tons crashing sounds,_ rolling around_ together," he trailed off.

Ogie and Lenny gave him a confused look while David and Nigel glared at him warningly.

Ignoring the both of them, he made his way over to Hoagie. "Is that what happened, Gilligan? You look up from _Yippers _and see this _bodacious _babe and notice that because you're all alone -"

Even though Hoagie was back to reading his comic book, and hadn't given any indication that he was even aware that any of them were there, no one could deny the sudden increase of static in the air, most noticeable as Bruce's hair began to stand straight up. Sensing trouble, Nigel smacked him upside the head before Hoagie took matters into his own hands.

Now if only Bruce wasn't such an idiot. "And Abbs," he continued, using the nickname that she found to be incredibly annoying when he said it like that, "we all knew it was gonna happen eventually, but what we gotta know is the _exact _moment that you look over at this tub and suddenly felt all hot and both -"

A touch. That's all it took for Bruce to keel over backwards and pass out. Abby made it a personal policy not to _take _anyone's health (preferring to _give _it instead), but she'd had enough. Frankly, she'd let him off easy; what she would have _really _liked to do was put him in a coma, or worse. And by the looks on everyone else's faces, it looked as if they had been meaning to do the same. Oh yeah, he got off _real _easy.

_BAMF!_

**Okay, give me a second to figure out what the hell I just wrote. Like seriously, what the hell? That was not was I was planning _at all. _I think it has something to do with the fact that it is now 4 am, but I'm really wondering where I got all this crap from. Oh well I guess.**

**So anyway, I brought in all the Delightful Children, but because I didn't even hint at what their powers are, I won't explain them just yet.**

**I honestly have _no freaking clue _as to where I got the idea for Hoagie's powers. I guess it had something to do with the inventor thing that I figured being electricity would relate. In the end, I came up with the 10,000 Volt Ghost from_ Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed;_ he can travel through electricity (which I thought would be pretty badass) plus conduct electricity. And I know I didn't put it anywhere, but he can also absorbed electricity, and can control electronics. Cool, eh? Well, I thought so.**

**And Abby's I think was probably more obvious. Originally, I gave her Claire's regenerative ability (from _Heroes_) and I added Maggie Siff from _Push _just for kicks (the part where she could heal or hurt others) because of the whole "she becomes a doctor" thing that I've read in a lot of fanfics. But I wanted there to be more to it. I dunno _why, _but I chose Kurt from _X-Men _'cause I thought it would be cool to do a more romantic (or not) scene about Abby and Hoagie chasing each other around like that kinda like in this chapter.  
**

**I think that's it for now. Leave a review full of whatever. I'll keep writing whether or not anyone cares, but I like to know if people are reading or not**

**And yes, I _am _working on BttF,SO, but it could take a while 'cause it's getting more and more difficult to decide which way I wanna go with it, so yeah**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, so I actually started writing a new chapter for BTTF,SO, but I can't _write it! _Trust me, no one's more ticked off about this than I am. And added to that, I've made myself a nest in my Batcave (no longer a mancave) 'cause my cousins are being really loud. So here I am. Now I only have the _vaguest _idea on how to write this, so bear with me here as I pull something from thin air.**

**So, at the age of 14, both Kuki and Wally look like Orionstorm's _"I fixed it..."_ 'cept Wally's probably a bit taller.**

**So to _a couple _of my reviewers:**

**Numbuh 227- Nah, none of them do. The fire was from Nigel**

**Gamewizard2008- It took me several days to figure out that reference, and I watched Wreck-It-Ralph _four times__! _Fail. Aw well, got it eventually!**

**WARNING: This chapter is definitely one of the more graphic things I've written. Compared to most stuff on TV, it isn't bad, I'm just warning you that it's definitely not something you'd run into the show, to which I feel like I need to remind you, this _isn't _"Kids Next Door," this is a superhero action themed story. There tends to be a lot of violence and often times gore. I promise this isn't that bad, just prepare for _actual _weapons and injuries instead of S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R.s and M.U.S.K.E.T.s.**

**On with the story!**

The pain that hit him came more terribly than words could describe. It started in his skull, shoulders, and the base of his spine in tiny, burning pinpricks, but quickly spread over his entire being from the very top of his head down to the tips of his toes.

He struggled with the bonds that were holding him while trying to remember to breathe. The heat became even more intense, filling every crevice of his very being, unable to scream; the stupid cruddy tube they gave him could only do so much. At the thought of the excruciating pain, it only seemed to intensify and was vaguely aware of the ice water starting to bubble and evaporate.

_Not much longer...Can't be much longer now! _he thought desperately. But even then the heat was distinctly kicked up several notches and the pain took on a whole new level. He honestly wouldn't have wished this kind of agony on his worst enemy. Even his healing factor didn't repair his body fast enough to prevent the pain this "operation" was putting him through.

At this point, he was sure that his skull was splitting and his hands began spasming; his heart rate skyrocketed and his breathing became more and more labored; black spots began dancing in front of his eyes.

_Make it stop! Make it stop! _The burning trickled to his ribs like liquid, scorching his muscles and organs as it streamed over and across his ribcage. If it was at all possible, his heart raced even faster in frightened apprehension as it came closer. Just as the very last of the liquid trickled into place, he felt his heart slowing suddenly, getting fainter and fainter; vision getting dark, breath more and more shallow until it just _stopped._

* * *

"Well whaddaya know? The kid _can _die," a suit sneered cruelly. "Who knew?"

The scientist next to him sighed. "And here I was thinking that we actually got it this time. _Tsk, tsk. _Oh well." If it wasn't for the smug smirk on his face, one would think he was actually remorseful.

"Oh Doc, we _all _knew that it wasn't gonna work! It's kind of the point, in case you have forgotten."

Another sigh. "No, of course not. Still, you can't deny what an accomplishment it would've been if one actually survive. It's a shame, really."

"It's alright. There's plenty more of those where that one came from. Besides, you really wouldn't want _that one, _believe me. Troublemaker through and through."

The scientist sighed again. "Still, the healing mutation is extremely rare. I was surprised that even one of the group had it. I seriously doubt that there will be another."

"I think we just proved that the healing factor helps much in surviving the operation," said the suit, indicating to the water-filled tank where a boy, no older than fourteen, laid limply at the very bottom, now too heavy to even float, pulling his restraints and breathing tube down farther in with him.

"You'd be surprised," the other man chuckled. "This one lasted a whole ten minutes; long enough for the procedure to complete-"

"And then it killed him."

"And then it killed him, yes." The scientist fussed with a few buttons and switches on one of his many computers, raising the platform that the boy was resting on. "I suppose the only thing to do now is melt him down and try again. Would you be a lamb and call maintenance? Goodness knows how I simply don't do corpses."

"Fine." He pressed a button on the wall labeled _Maintenance. _"Hey Doc, you might wanna unstrap him yourself. You know how clumsy these people are."

The man only barely managed to suppress a laugh as his colleague grimaced and then muttered, "Yes, I suppose you're right."

Getting all the restraints proved to be quite the effort, as they had to be specially designed for this boy's specific use. Around the ankles, the waist, and_ especially_ tight around his wrists. Even _he_ wouldn't be able to escape, and he didn't.

Now that he was out of the water, the boy was ten times heavier than before. The scientist lifted the boy's limp arm to eye level, examining and mentally cataloguing his work. _Adamantium was accepted - though rather grudgingly - over bone structure. Subject is distinctively heavier due to greater density...This kid could've been unstoppable. Too bad he had to die while on the right track to immortality. _He smirked at the cruel irony.

The scientist felt a tap at his shoulder; maintenance had arrived. "Get this kid out of here. Melt down the adamantium - it's coating all of his bones - and then get rid of whatever's left over."

"Yes sir."

The suit took him aside - no doubt to discuss future experiments - when an incredibly loud _clang _rang throughout the lab.

"Careful you buffoons!" the scientist snarled.

"Sorry sir," the maintenance man said, not sounding sorry at all. "But this kid's _heavy._"

"Well of course he is, you dolt!"

"Well then, how the hell am I supposed to get him out of here? I can't damn well pick him up!"

"I don't know! Roll him over, or something!"

The maintenance man shrugged and got back to the job at hand while the scientist went back to his conversation.

"Um, Doc?"

"Oh, what is it now?!"

Instead of answering, the maintenance man pointed to the machine that had been monitoring the boy's heart rate, a flat line. About to lose his patience, he suddenly saw why the maintenance man had stopped. The difference was tiny - miniscule to say in the least - only the smallest quiver. The quiver becoming stronger, more regular, with every second.

"But that's imposs-"

The boy's limp form was suddenly active, rolling completely off his little platform and onto the floor, where he landed with a dull _thud, _cracking pavement in the process. The boy started retching, struggling to breathe in air while his body spasmed uncontrollably.

The three men, convinced that they had seen it all since they had taken up this line of work, stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed in shock until the boy finally took in enough air, and went limp; his breathing slow and deep, occasionally letting out a raspy cough.

"Huh, would you look at that. Looks like the kid really _can't _die!"

* * *

"Three weeks of laundry duty," Abby growled under her breath_. "Three weeks!"_

"Heard ya the first buhmillion times, Abs," Hoagie muttered from his spot behind the washing machine, trying to retrieve a rogue sock that had managed to escape.

"Yeah? Well Abby _still _ain't happy about it!" she snapped to no one in particular, slamming down a pile of dirty clothes.

"Look at it this way, Abby, it could've been _a lot _worse," said Nigel, bringing in yet another laundry basket, adding to their steadily-growing pile of dirty clothes.

"Hmph! Excuse her for not seeing how it could've gone worse," she growled, examining a measuring cup full of soap.

"Well I imagine that working with the government like _they _did at our age, you'd probably end up-"

"Nigel! Nigel, where are you?"

He sighed, annoyed at being interrupted. "In here, Dad! Laundry room!"

Several moments of loud footsteps passed before the parental figure made his appearance in the already-crowded laundry room. "Oh, hello Abigail! Hogarth!" he greeted in a jolly fashion while the aforementioned cringed at their full names.

"Hey, Mr. U," they replied in unison, not looking up from their work.

"Nigel, Old Bean, how would you fancy to take a quick trip with me?"

Nigel cringed. _Another trip? _"Gee Dad, I don't think I _can_," he started, "you know, 'cause my powers have just started showing up, and they're not completely settled yet. Plus _Mom _doesn't want me leaving the house 'til they calm down, especially not for another fishing trip. Not that there not fun or anything!" He rushed the last part, hoping to spare his father's feeling while salvaging whatever may be left of his social status after the _last time _he was caught in public with him.

Though to his surprise and dismay, Monty's boyish and slightly goofy smile never faltered, but almost seemed to have gotten bigger. "No, no! Not a fishing trip, old chap!" he chuckled.

"It's not?"

"No, dear boy! Actually, _we found one today._"

The three adolescents instantly perked up. "_You_ _found one? _But mom's machine! It's not...?"

"Oh no, it's not done yet," he assured Hoagie. "Still got quite a bit of work on that. No, I've had my suspicions about this one for a while, and I think it's finally time we introduced ourselves."

"Really? Why now?"

"I wanted to be completely sure it was a power flare-up. And now that I know it is, I think we should go inform the parents on their options. I do hope that we will soon have another student here."

"Okay, but shouldn't you take Abby or David with you? I mean, they are the oldest, and _their _powers are actually settled. I could sneeze and burn the house down!"

"Oh I know, but I want to impress the fact that they're not the only ones going through the changes. Besides, your powers have calmed down a bit."

_A bit? What an overstatement._

"Come on now, dear boy! I have a good feeling about this!"

Nigel grimaced at his father's retreating form; Abby and Hoagie shrugged, and he followed, leaving them to their work.

* * *

Wally groaned from his place on the floor. By now his breath had finally returned to him and his heart rate was going back to normal, but everything else _hurt. _He could still feel the metal they injected him with, how it hadn't cooled down yet. Even with his healing ability, it felt like he was being charred alive from the inside out; he could feel every bone in his body in amazing clarity as they all simultaneously burned and throbbed.

And his _hands! _He didn't even try to flex his fingers. Everything from the elbow down was extra painful.

All too soon he was yanked to his feet by the hair, though at that point the minor pain didn't register compared to the rest. His feet dragged under him; they were definitely heavier than before.

At the back of his mind he contemplated a surprise attack and escape. It wouldn't be too difficult; it was only these three men, and he could feel the lingering pain in his hands and teeth...But no, being in the water had made him dizzy, his muscles hurt, and he knew for a fact that he couldn't get out of this maze-like prison by himself in his exhausted state, never mind the countless other guards at every twist and turn.

The hand that was clenching his hair flung him forward, and had he had his wits about him, he would've stopped himself before smacking into the glass window; the _bulletproof __glass window, _as he had come to find out in the past.

Wally turned around wearily, already seeing the pistol aimed at his head at point blank range, like all those times before. The finger tightened on the trigger, and he instinctively closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable pain as it went through his skull..._again._

There was a loud resounding _bang, _and something the size of a baby carrot punctured the skin on his forehead and knocked him backwards into the glass.

To say that the pain was completely unexpected would be a gross understatement. Sure, it hurt and all, but compared to the usual "tests" and "experiments" that were performed on him in the past, it was nothing.

He stepped away from the glass, rubbed the sore spot where he banged it, and turned to see his reflection. Over the past few days (or weeks, or months; he honestly had no idea how long he'd been there), he'd seen his face and body reflected back at him in the most bizarre and disorienting ways due to previous experiments testing how he healed after different injuries. This one, by far, was the most mundane.

He reached up slowly, feeling his way to the center of his forehead where a small silver bullet had been flattened on impact. Wincing at the tenderness of the small wound, he pulled it out quickly. The hole sealed itself up, and in seconds, the thin blood trail slowly running down his face was the only indication that it had ever been there in the first place.

"Incredible!" he heard someone say. "Truly astounding! This discovery will no doubt..."

Wally ignored them. He knew what they were talking about already, and he had other things preoccupying him.

_So they just made me indescrib - nah, wrong word. Indiscour - noooo. _He thought for a moment. _Ah, who cares? They can't stop meh now. If oi can just destroy those needle guns, Ah can get out 'o here! _

He glanced around and located the nearest case of injections they used to keep him under control. One small dose would knock out an elephant in seconds, he was assured. And he believed them. He got first-hand experience with the stuff after the last time he tried to escape. He wasn't entirely sure what improvements were included with his new skeleton, but he didn't think that it would protect him too well if he was given a shot.

_Oi just need a distraction._

"Excuse me, sirs," a new voice interrupted. "But _this _one just tried to make a break for it a few minutes ago. Almost made it too if she had just been a _little bit _quicker," the guard sneered.

In front of him was one of the MP's, "Mutant Prisoners" as the personnel referred to them in the vicinity. She was a small Asian girl, though she was a few inches taller than Wally. She had long dark hair and a slightly upturned nose. He supposed she could have been pretty if it weren't for the oversized fluorescent jumpsuit that they were all forced to wear but no one could actually fit in, or the sad, defeated look on her face.

Wally instantly tensed, his superior instincts and senses taking over. He and the girl had eye contact for a split second, and it was as if they'd read each other's minds; they acted at the exact same time, fighting like they'd rehearsed it. He saw and heard everything in slow motion.

"You _idiot!" _the scientist screeched at the guard. "There are _plants _in here!"

Wally didn't trouble himself with whatever the crud _that _meant, but instead allowed himself to relieve the tension in his still-burning hands. Three bone claws - no - three _ademantium _claws shot out from each of his hands between the knuckles, each razor sharp and deadly.

The scientist, business man, and maintenance guy huddled together fearfully while the guard took aim with his injection-gun. At that moment - once again, in slow motion - the small ugly flower perched on one of the many operation tables grew to the size of a trash can and _slammed _into all four men, knocking them into the wall and pinning them.

Wally stared in shock. _What the crud?_

The answer, as it turns out, was the MP girl, who at the moment, had her arm extended outwards, mimicking the plant. _Or, _as he suddenly realized, _as if the plant was mimicking her._

"Whoa!"

The girl smiled, pleased. While he would've gladly stood there longer reveling in the long past due defeat of the monsters who had kidnapped him, he realized that they needed to leave right at that moment if they ever wanted to see daylight again. Thankfully, she knew it too.

Again, in perfect sync, they located a map of the vicinity on the wall behind a desk, and began searching for the nearest exit.

"This way! Let's go!"

"But the others!" she protested.

Wally hesitated. This wasn't going to be easy. "We need ta get help. We'll come back," he promised both to her and to himself.

She grimaced, but nodded and followed his lead.

Thankfully, there weren't any more guards this close to the edge of the operation. They went unchallenged save for a few doors, which went down easily with his new claws, though occasionally he needed to summon his fangs to finish the work.

The clock ticked painfully fast as they both expected to be chased down at any second. Thankfully, no one came. At long last, they hit sunlight and breathed in fresh air for the first time in a long time.

"We have to get help," she gasped. "But who are we gonna get? No one's gonna believe us!"

Wally ignored her. He didn't mean to, honestly, but something peculiar caught his interest.

"Something smells."

"'_Something smells?'" _she repeated. "Are you even listening? We need to get help!"

"Listen, ya cruddy sheila, ah don't know how ta explain this, but I know where we need to go."

"Really? Where?"

"Well I dunno exactly where," he admitted. "But we're gonna have to follow the smell."

The girl stared at him. "What are you talking about?! What smell?!"

Wally wished she wasn't so loud. His head was still throbbing from his operation. "Look, I dunno how ta explain this, but normal people and _special _people loike us just kinda, _smell different._" Given by the look on her face, he probably sounded like a crazy person. "Look, ya just gotta trust me on this." Without waiting for an answer, he strutted away from their hiding place, and - making sure no one was watching - unsheathed his claws and broke the lock on the trailer of a semi-truck. "Come _on!" _he called to her in a loud whisper.

She hesitated for a second, unsure of him, but quickly followed him in and waited for him to close it behind her.

It was cold and dark in the back of the truck, but Wally quickly fixed one of those two problems by stabbing a few small holes in the metal shell, giving them a little light.

For the most part, it was quite empty, with a few sacks of what looked like animal feed stashed into the corners.

"Now what?" she whispered.

They heard and felt the truck start up and begin to move.

"Now," he said, plopping down on one of the sacks, "we wait." He lied down as comfortably as he could and closed his eyes.

She considered him for a moment, then joined him. "I'm Kuki, by the way," she said, holding out her hand in greeting.

Wally opened one eye to find her hand near him. "Oim Wally." He made a move to shake her hand, but found that he still hadn't retracted his claws. Blushing for no apparent reason, he quickly corrected his mistake only to find that she was no longer offering her hand. She was staring where his claws had just disappeared, the cuts they made were fading quickly until they vanished completely.

"Does it hurt?"

Wally flexed his hand, showing that he was fine. "Every time," he answered, surprising himself. "But oi'm hurting all over, so it isn't tha' bad." He said it as a means to shrug it off, show that it wasn't that big a deal, but she just kept staring. After a moment, she still hadn't said anything, so he lied back down and tried to sleep once again.

"I can make that go away, if you want," she said so quietly that if it weren't for his enhanced hearing, he might not have heard.

"Ya can?"

"Uh-huh. But," she blushed, "you have to trust me, now."

He considered the offer for a moment, then nodded.

Kuki nodded back, and closed her eyes, focusing for a moment. She reached out blindly, cupped his cheeks, brushed his bangs back, and held a lingering kiss to his forehead. Wally, being the boy he was, was about to protest, when the most curious cooling sensation started spreading from the spot where her lips were touching his face. He held still and felt his body relax as it reached to his toes, and barely felt when she pulled away.

"Better?"

He nodded vaguely, suddenly far too exhausted to speak.

"Go to sleep, okay?"

He grunted a thanks before laying down for the last time, falling into the most relaxed sleep he'd had in a long time.

**Okay, so first, let me explain my lateness. When I first came up with this story, I wanted to introduce all of Sector V and their powers _first, _but due to poor planning on my part, that didn't fit into the plot I came up with. So after a dash of inspiration a few months ago, I started writing, but then got stuck. Only last night did I figure out how to complete it.**

**So anyway, I hope you'll excuse me for a lot of ooc-ness all around, starting with Nigel's dad and going onto Wally and Kuki.**

**As for their powers: Wally's was one of the first I came up with, right up there with Nigel and Hoagie. In case you didn't get any of the _blatantly obvious _references, Wally is Wolverine from the _X-Men. _He heals, and he has an indestructible skeleton and claws; I gave him retractable fangs 'cause I felt like it. Just take a moment to think about it. By definition, a wolverine is a small, ferocious animal. _HELLO?! _It's Wally!**

**Kuki took a little longer, but as I was working with opposites (don't ask), I was thinking, so Wally's an animal, so that must make Kuki...a plant! No, she's not actually a plant, she controls them. There are plenty of heroes with this power, but I prefer to think of Layla from _Sky High. _As for the kiss thing, I only have the vaguest idea as to where exactly that came from, but I don't wanna spoil plans I have for the future, so let's just say I got the idea from _Ishi _from _Heroes, _but instead of making it a healing kiss, her kisses take away pain. Which works well considering how her future lover heals, but can still feel pain.**

**Okay, so I'd like to stay and chat some more, but I'm already SUPER late, and I gotta go. So _please _leave a review on your way out, and tune in next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I _swear _I was gonna update sooner, 'cause I've had the idea for this chapter since before I even started writing this. So I really don't know why it took me this long...Scratch that, I know why: tennis season, the beginning and ending of a relationship, end of junior year, getting a fohawk, and now vacationing back home in California. So, in short, life.**

**So, to a couple of my reviewers:**

**KND Operative Numbuh 227:**** Well, so far we've established that Sectors V and Z are the only ones there (there are a couple more), so there really aren't any "X-Men" to meet up with...yet**

**caeruleus14:**** Dude, the only - and I do mean _only _- reason I even gave Kuki that power is to have them kiss! It was the only way I could think of to satisfy my inner fangirl without taking them too far out of character**

**FancyToaster:**** That's actually what I thought of when I was doing the final consideration of their powers; Kuki, I think, has that motherly way about her**

**Gamewizard2008:**** Eh, more like the opposite of Poison Ivy. Remember, she's not poison, she takes away pain**

**Okay, so I wrote the first half of the latest BttF,So chapter, but alas! Writer's block has struck again! So here I am. Anyway, Harvey looks like Allie-Twig's _"Harvey's Worst day EVER"_ and Rachel looks like hendocrinogeno's _"say cheese"._**

**So, onward!**

A maid in a crisp uniform admitted Nigel and Monty into the obnoxiously large house and into the living room, leaving them standing near the base of a grand staircase.

Monty strutted into the house with a jolly air about him, his son shuffling behind him, eyeing the expensive furniture and décor anxiously; even with the a/c on, he felt nervous being here. Though the place was incredibly elegant - the place could've come right out of a magazine - Nigel couldn't help but get an unfriendly vibe from the place. It was just too clean, too aesthetic, too..._perfect. _The chairs and couches in his own home were open and homey; these were too solid-looking and altogether uninviting. _Who'd be able to grow up in a place like this?_

The answer came to him as his gaze shifted to a nearby shelf, recently dusted and immaculately organized. There were many certificates and trophies that lined the shelves. _Piano award, violin award, choir award, tennis trophy, Honor Roll, blah, blah, blah, _he listed. A particularly large one read:

_The Mozart School of Music and Performing Arts would like to present this award to: R. McKenzie for his/her outstanding achievement in..._

_Blah, blah, blah_. _So there's an R. McKenzie, _he noted.

Nigel's eyes snapped away from the shelf, sensing that he and his dad weren't alone. A boy - a couple years younger than himself, he figured - glared at him from a far-off doorway, arms crossed. He crossed his arms and glared back out of impulse, the instant dislike for each other evident.

"Why, hello there, Chap." _Seriously? _His dad's obliviousness was remarkable sometimes.

"Hmph!"

Another servant - this one, male - poked his head in from yet another door. "Master McKenzie, your lunch is served."

The boy "hmph"-ed again, then strutted away, nose in the air.

"Him?" Nigel asked, eyeing the boy's exit distastefully.

"No._ Her_."

He looked about in confusion for a moment before following his father's gaze to the top of the staircase, where a blond girl about his own age stood awkwardly, hugging herself as if to ward off the cold of the air conditioner. Odd, since the a/c was a huge relief from being outside for only a few moments.

The girl smiled shyly as she descended the stairs, hugging herself all the way down. Her clothes, Nigel noticed, were very ordinary, strongly contrasting with her rich surroundings, as if she was trying to convince herself that she was just a normal teen, rather than a filthy stinking rich one.

"Hello," she greeted cheerfully. "You must be Mr. Uno."

"And you must be Miss McKenzie," Monty replied politely.

"Please, call me Rachel."

"Rachel, I'd like to introduce my son, Nigel."

Like a proper lady, she took his cue to reset her gaze on the younger boy. "Oh, hello Ni-" He didn't know why, but they both froze at that exact moment when their eyes first met, taking in absolutely everything about each other. She was cute, he supposed, with neatly cut hair, dark brown eyes, and - to his slight dismay, a couple inches over him (though he would later blame her flip-flops for the extra height). "Nigel."

"Hi, Rachel," he said slowly. It vaguely occurred to him that throughout their entire formal introduction, never once did she offer her hand to shake; both arms remained wrapped around herself. Though strange, he remained grateful that physical contact wouldn't be required; his heart was inexplicably beating very fast, once again raising his temperature to an almost-unbearable level. He could just _feel _the flames beneath his skin, just waiting for some kind of contact to erupt.

"Don't be rude, Nigel. Go on, shake hands!"

Though unaware of each other, both adolescents snapped their eyes up at Monty, identical panicked expressions evident on their faces.

"Dad, no! I can't!"

"Really, Mr. Uno, that really isn't a very good idea!"

Monty chuckled at the horrified looks on their faces. "It'll be fine! Go on!"

Nigel tried to give his dad a look, one that warned him of what would end up happening. His father's obliviousness only seemed to frustrate him and made it worse.

Rachel looked just as alarmed as he felt, hesitating as she withdrew a hand, holding it out very cautiously. Nigel slowly raised his arm to meet hers, glancing back towards his dad one more time only to be urged forward encouragingly.

Both arms were tense, expecting to be yanked back before too much damage could be done through the contact. Their hands hesitated again, only a hair's breadth apart this time, still hoping for some sort of interruption. Nothing.

Finally, Nigel took initiative - figuring that he'd be less likely to set her aflame if their handshake was reduced to a quick hand-grasp - and closed his fingers around hers. By then, his heart hand been beating far too fast to keep himself under control. He knew _something _was going to happen now, and that it wouldn't be good.

And sure enough, as soon as his hand grasped hers, flames were released and traveled up her arm faster than he could process it. In slow motion, he heard her gasp and saw her eyes widen as she tightly gripped his fingers in surprise. But before he could summon up his wits to let go, he felt an odd cooling sensation start at his palm and move up to his shoulder, _freezing it._

Rachel, luckily, had enough sense to wrench her hand away at that very moment and wrap her arms around herself again, panicked. Nigel just gazed down at the now-melting ice that had formed over his arm so quickly. It wasn't unpleasant; quite the opposite actually. Even now, as it had almost disappeared, the ice had actually cooled the heat in his hand enough for him to actually feel confident enough to be able to actually shake a normal person's hand.

"Oh my God! I - I'm so sorry! I t-tried to tell you - I can't control-"

"It's quite alright." Monty smiled at her warmly. "Absolutely no harm done. See?"

She fearfully returned her gaze to Nigel, who'd just finished gazing at his arm and was now giving her a look of pure amazement. "Did you _really_ not just feel that?"

Rachel looked at him, confused; then it clicked. Slowly, she peeled her arm from herself and showed him: _no burns. _Not even a charred sleeve. As if nothing had happened.

"It was actually the warmest I've felt in months. Did _you _really not just feel that?" Nigel held up his defrosted hand.

They unashamedly gave each other looks of awe.

_She can't burn._

_He can't feel cold._

"Well," said Monty, snapping them both out of it. "Looks as if you two have a lot of things to talk about. So why don't you both run along, and I'll have a word with your parents on your options, Rachel."

"Sounds like a plan, Mr. Uno."

**Is it possible to write something short _and _wordy? 'Cause I think I just did. So, a few things I wanna briefly go over. First being the part that Rachel and Harvey are both filthy stinkin' rich; that I actually got from several other fics before I'd actually watched all the episodes and had figured out that their family/upbringing had never been mentioned. But it was too late; they are rich, and there's nothing I can do about it. And the ending was too rushed...yeah.**

**So as far as Rachel's powers, she's pretty much the exact opposite of Nigel (there go my damn opposites again). She's pretty much Bobby from _X-Men _except that she _covers _stuff with ice instead of _turning _them to ice. There's a difference, and it will me (mildly) important later. And like Nigel, her body temperature is crazily impossible, though she can't really feel heat. She kinda just radiates cold, and that's uncomfortable. Also, what I didn't mention in this chapter is that she also has Jean Grey's powers as an addition to her ice powers. I promise, that wasn't my original plan. My first actual idea for this story was their meeting, where they're both scared of touching out of fear of their uncontrolled powers, but find themselves unable to harm each other that way. But after adding to Nigel's powers (for which I've already explained myself in the first chapter) and made him Cyclops, I was already like, "Oh what the hell, why not? They end up together anyway." So now she's Jean. Though the thing is, while she _can _turn it off, her telepathic and telekinetic powers are _really _weak, so she's often too shaky to use them, but they're _super _powerful when she can get them to work...and that's pretty much it.**

**I find myself hating this chapter, but I know that if I don't finish and upload it now, it could be months before I remember it. So...yeah. REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**So I'm supposed to be getting ready to go out right now, but I feel so _groggy _that I can barely manage to move. Ugh, my tennis coach is _not _gonna be happy when she sees how little I've done this summer. I feel soreness coming on just thinking about it. Ick! So anyway, while doing my KNDisney series on deviantart, I couldn't help but simultaneously imagine how the movie would've gone if they'd have had their powers while in their roles...and now I'm here.**

**So to a couple of my reviewers:**

**BookWorm2the2ndPower:**** Well, I try to make my stories stand out, so I hope you like it!**

**numbuh 1x1:**** I swear I don't mean to disappear, I just forget that I need to write**

**FancyToaster:**** Heh, it took me a minute to understand what pun you were talking about. Fail**

**So anyway, I figure that I'd like you guys to be able to picture the characters as I see them, and because I've only actually drawn Lenny of the bunch, it'll probably be a while before going into what they can do, though since I'm making this up as I go, maybe I'll do it sooner rather than later. Who knows at this point? Still, I'd like to be able to give a bit of history and hopefully clear a few things up for those of you who might have questions.**

**On with the story!**

"So you play the piano, the violin, softball, tennis, lead in your school choir, are on the Honor Roll in one of the most prestigious schools in the country, and _still _manage to eat, sleep, and breathe like a normal human being?"

Rachel gave a shy smile, hugging her knees to her chest from her spot on the bed, watching Nigel as he continued to explore the apartment-sized bedroom.

"You ma'am, really are a super girl."

Rachel giggled. "Okay, my turn. How did _you _react when you first got your powers?"

"Oh, my parents had been watching for my flare-up for a while now. I'm apparently a 'late bloomer' by our standards," he answered, putting air quotes around late bloomer. "When they finally showed up, everyone was more or less prepared. Or at least, as prepared as you can be. Okay, here's my question: Do you _really _have to wear these dorky uniforms to school _every day?" _She looked over to see him holding a picture taken a few months before, right after a school concert.

"No, that's the dress code for live performances. _That's _the school uniform, and yes, we _do _have to wear them every day." She pointed at a picture right next to the one he picked up, the one of her and her two friends on the first day of 8th grade. She remembered that day all too well. The crisp - almost rough - feeling of her newly starched tie, button-up shirt, and sweater with the school logo on the front, and the already apparent heat rising in her too-long skirt on her way out the door; the enviousness she was feeling towards her two best friends was overwhelming that morning. They'd both just gotten the news that neither of them would be required to spend another five years at _Mozart's _by their parents, while she would be left alone with the snobbiest teachers and students in the entire world for the rest of her school career. They'd been running late because her mother stopped them at the door demanding a picture, which explained the matching grumpy expressions and crossed arms.

"Wow, and I'm suddenly glad to be a public school kid."

She giggled. This was nice, she decided. Just the two of them, taking turn asking questions. Though his were more about her overly-privileged lifestyle, and seemed to amuse him more and more with every question.

"Yeah, you're so lucky. So, how has the government not discovered and locked you all up to be dissected or something?" She was being silly, she knew, but it was an honest question, she reasoned.

"Oh they already know about us," he remarked as-a-matter-of-factly, turning his gaze to the posters covering her walls.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, they've known about us for decades. My grandfather was a psycho criminal back in his day, using his powers for evil and all that before getting caught and arrested. After doing his time, he settled down to raise my dad and my Uncle Ben; they went to school with my mom and Mrs. G - she's a friend of the family - and when the government found out that they were _special_ too, they figured that they could be used to go on top secret missions, stuff that normal people couldn't do. They all went for it, living the lives of normal teenagers by day and secret agents by night. So they worked like that for a few years when the government finally figured out that their assignments could be done _without _powers. By then, the government was willing to pay _anything _to keep them quiet, so they asked for a government-funded - school, I guess you could say since it's called _"The Institute"_ or whatever - where they can recruit other kids like them to help them control their powers. Simple enough, right? So that's what they did."

Rachel stared wide-eyed, disbelieving. "No way, you're _so _making that up!"

He chuckled. "I swear it's all true. You can ask anybody back at _The Institute _if you want."

"Okay smarty, then why isn't there a huge campaign with ads or something. You know: _Have YOU been tested for the X-gene?"_

"Uh-uh-uh! It's my turn." She stuck her tongue out at him. He stuck his right back. "Do you _really _ listen to Madonna, or are you one of those people who thinks that putting up one of their posters would make them look more cultured?"

She stared at him blankly, waiting for the "Just kidding!" that she knew deep down was not coming. "I like Madonna. I have practically every album she's ever made."

He snorted. "Oh, my mom's gonna _love _you."

"So back to my question," she said quickly, trying to cover up the blush she could feel coming on. Luckily he'd already turned back to her wall.

"We can't really advertise what we do. The adults figure that it would cause a massive panic if people found out what we can do. And even if we did, who'd come forward anyway? Nobody wants to be looked at like they're a freak." She took a moment to chew on this before being snapped back out of her reverie. "_No way. _You got to _meet _Maroon 5?"

Rachel couldn't have repressed a smirk if she tried. "Thirteenth birthday. I went to their concert with a few friends and we got to go backstage and stuff." She let him stare awestruck at the group's signatures on the photo for a moment longer. "So if you can't spread the word about what you're trying to do, _how _are you supposed to recruit more people?"

Her question snapped Nigel's mind out of its amazement and back home where Mrs. G had been trying to solve that dilemma for _years._

"Heh, its not easy, I'll tell you that."

_What an understatement. The number of failures to the answer of the once-simple problem was unprecedented. Over the course of his lifetime, Nigel had witnessed unrealistic ideas become reality under her construction. With Hoagie's help, she created a generator that not only powered the entire Institute, but never seemed to run out of energy. With his mom, she created contact lenses that enabled the user to see in complete darkness, as well as ones with x-ray vision, and others in infrared - a real setback when it came to rule-breaking. She created clothes that could stretch indefinitely, resist the heat of a volcano, and disappear completely for him, Ashley, and Maurice. Abby helped with a bandage that could cut the amount of time of the normal speeding process by half. A pair of gloves that stuck to any surface, allowing someone to climb walls, and even the ceiling like David. Now if only they could find someone with the ability to track others..._

"Oh come on, I deserve a better answer than that!"

Nigel realized too late that he'd been quiet for too long. "What? Oh, eh, sorry," he said sheepishly. "Just thinking..." Her curious gaze followed him as he left the autographed picture and wandered over to the massive bed, sitting next to her. "We've been trying to create a machine that could help us find other people like us. So far, it's been a no-go, so we've been doing it the old-fashioned way."

"Which is?"

"News reports. You know, on TV, the newspaper, internet," he ticked off on his fingers. "If a flare-up happens in public, you can bet it'll be on the news, classified as an 'Unexplainable Event' or something. If something stands out, we start looking into it. If other weird stuff had been happening in the area lately. Suspicions eventually turn into confirmations, and we eventually introduce ourselves. But the system takes forever and is really unreliable. Sometimes people are just really talented, or the real special people had gotten good at keeping their heads down, so the _Institute _is a lot emptier than my parents had hoped, though we have tracked down a fair few over the years."

"Is that how you found me?"

Nigel sighed. "Looks like it. So here's my question: You've obviously been cooped up in here for a while - probably because of your flare-up - so all your maids and butlers would have seen you do _something _out of the ordinary. So why haven't any of them gone public with this?"

Rachel snorted. "As if anyone would believe them! And besides, Dad's a big-time lawyer who needs to keep up his appearance, and would be willing to sue the pants off of anyone who threatened that. I guess it just seems more of a risk than it's worth to be sued for every last penny."

He nodded understandingly. "Yeah, I can see that."

"Mmhm. So tell me about the _Institute_. I bet in a place full of mutants, you get a bunch of crazy adventures."

Nigel laughed. "Oh, you don't know the _half _of it!"

* * *

Kuki bit her lip hard, feeling guiltier than she'd ever felt in her life, but continued changing out of her oversized fluorescent jumpsuit into the stolen set of clothes behind a dumpster while Wally kept watch, already changed. She stepped out into view, still looking disheveled from days of stowing away on random vehicles, but still more likely to blend into a crowd than in what she had been wearing.

Wally gave her a once-over before nodding in approval. It would do. He peeked around the corner, making sure no one was watching, before giving the signal that it was safe to go out. Quickly, they fell into step behind a couple who looked too busy to notice to the young teens following close behind them, which was just as well as it gave them another layer of cover in case someone was looking for them.

Kuki kept her eyes forward, trained on nothing, but occasionally sneaked glances at Wally, who was trying to decipher the direction the "special smell" was coming from while trying to look like a normal, bored teenager. It was much harder process than what he first anticipated. Getting to a big city had been a real setback; suddenly, the smell was everywhere, as mutants went on going through their daily routines as normally as possible. The first few days were a nightmare as they spent the hours walking around in circles trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. Kuki had been getting exasperated, he knew, though she assured him that she wouldn't leave him - her excuse being that she had nowhere else to go - but really just _needing _to believe that they'd get through it together.

It looked hopeless on more than one occasion, they admitted, but there was a spark of hope as Wally had suddenly detected an incredibly strong wave of the smell, which could only be caused by a bunch of mutants grouped together. He was still having trouble finding their _exact _location - their constant moving about made following their trail more like trying to find their way out of a maze than anything - but he was beyond sure that they were in the right city. So sure, in fact, that he could feel it in his bones. And he was sure that Kuki could feel it too. _So close. So close..._

**So it's past midnight and I _really _need to post this chapter. Sorry if it was kinda boring, but I felt like I needed to explain a few things before moving too far forward. So I hinted at a fair few of people's powers, particularly Mrs. Uno (who I'm calling Janie) and Betty Gilligan.**

**So Mrs. Uno pretty much has eye powers. Heat vision, night vision, x-ray vision, infrared, freeze vision, microscopic, you name it. I thought it would kinda explain Nigel's powers. I mean, he's got the fire thing from his dad's side, and the super vision from his mom, so you put it together, and he's got heat vision! ...Yeah**

**And then there's Betty, who's slightly trickier to explain. I honestly have no clue as to where I got the idea, but I figure that she can build gadgets and stuff that are an extension of someone else's powers (Hoagie's electricity-conducting ability into a super generator, Abby's healing power into a super healing bandage, Mrs. Uno's super vision into contacts ('cause x-ray glasses are too mainstream))**

**As far as everything else goes, I actually liked this chapter and how it came out. Two things I feel as if I should explain though, is Monty, Ben, Janie, and Betty's past about working for the government. I actually got that idea from watching every _Kim Possible _episode ever. In my mind, it works like that. Janie is Kim, Monty is Ron (he seems like the type to be the dorky nonconformist teenager), Betty is a more present Wade and the tweebs, and I guess Ben could just be like the tagalong during their missions? Seriously, that show pretty much formed their entire lives for me. Their villains, their problems, their missions, everything.**

**Thing #2 is more like a side note. So I pretty much based Nigel and Rachel's conversation after one I had with one of my friends a couple years ago, where she'd been asking about what it was like living in Texas, and I'd ask about all the famous people she'd met (her mom's an actress), and we'd just kinda go back and forth like that. And...I believe that's it. Please do me a favor and leave a review on your way out!**


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